


Rain

by elstar1



Category: SECHSKIES (Band)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-28 15:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstar1/pseuds/elstar1
Summary: I've always loved the rain. There's something magical about it. Something haunting. And now, something nostalgic. This is the story of the fateful meeting between two people under a yellow umbrella.^LIESJekki in high school AU, told through Jiwon's POVFriendship youth stuffs





	1. The Eye of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Some plot might seems familiar, true cos I'm not creative enough to write stuffs, but just had to do this for Sechskies.  
> This story is better off illustrated as manga.  
> Was first written and shown on Sechskies Discord server

A new year at a new school. Nothing new for me, I've been in and out of school since the beginning due to my father's job (and sometimes due to my own misconduct). But hey, it's not me that look for trouble, trouble seems to find its way to me.  
Always being the new guy didn't do me any good. I was always the entropy, disturbing the balanced dynamic of the school. My evil looking eyes seems to attract the wrong kind of attention too. Well, I've grown accustomed to that. If it's a fight they want, I'll give em a real fight.  
I walked leisurely to the school amidst other students rushing to catch the bell. I have the sense of being fashionably late, especially when making the first impression at a new place. I'm marking my identity here, so they'll instantly know who they're dealing with.  
The bell rung as I'm about 5 steps to the school gate. "Stop, name and student ID!" A hand is stretched in front of me, blocking me from entering the school compound.

I looked up to that person. Like literally looked up, he is tall. His eyes are sharp, looking fiercer with his thin-rimmed glasses. "Name and ID!" He said again. "What, I'm only late by 30 seconds?" I defiantly argued.  
He took a good look at me. "I've never seen you before, what's your name?" He wrinkled his eyebrows. Don't think I'll fall for that trick. "Yeah, I'm new here. Where's the principle office?"  
He looked a bit disgruntled at my stubbornness in giving my name, but pointed at the direction of the office.  
I glanced at his nametag before leaving ‘Ko Jiyong’.

*****************************  
It has been three months at this new school. I’ve got a new friend in the form of wide-eyed, fresh looking Jang Suwon. Unsurprisingly, I’ve made enemies too, but my biggest rival right now is Lee Jaijin of the nearby high school. That man is one tough guy, sometimes I get to best him and at others, well, rarely, he beat the heck out of me.  
Though one thing I hate the most about this school is that prefect, Ko Jiyong.  
He just had to be so adamant about rules and stuffs. Busting out my plans to fly school, catching me in my smoke breaks and other misadventures.  
That guy has a reputation in school.  
He’s the number one in the whole school, almost be made head prefect, but since the position usually held by the senior, that didn’t go.  
He also got a lot of admirers, both girls and guys, but coldly rejected them.  
Thus, he got the nickname the cold prince. But my nickname for him is way cruder than that.  
“Man, what’s wrong with that guy, one day I’ll get him!” I complained as I’m picking out grasses, a punishment for being late to school that day.  
“Hahaha, leave him be, he’s just doing his job,” said Suwon, alongside me, we were both late due to us chilling out at the convenience store this morning.  
Hey, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you can’t blame a boy for trying to get his nutrition, along with the refreshment provided by cigarettes.  
“Yeah, but why the heck he gotta be that dedicated? Trying to act perfect, that rich snobby guy, tch” I continued to grumble, pulling out that patch of grass harder than need to be, imagining that’s Jiyong.  
“Rich? He’s not rich. He comes from an average family, both working parents.” Suwon said.  
I turned to Suwon. “Then he shouldn’t act almighty, as if he’s above us!”  
Suwon paused for a while. Then he said,  
“Well, he wasn’t always like this. You see, he had an older sister.”  
My ears perked up at the ‘had’.  
“Around four years ago, when we were in middle school, his sister was in high school. This same school to be exact. But one day, she disappeared without a trace after school. It was a pretty big case, I still remember my dad, a detective at that time, worked day and night, arranging search parties, questioning suspects, but no clue, until this day.” Suwon told me.  
“There were rumours that she ran with her boyfriend, or just decided to skip town to pursue her dreams. She dreamt of being a singer, so there’s that theory. But there’s also a possibility of her… being dead. After some time, the case went cold. Then, his parents split up, maybe due to the loss of the child, and both go to work in the town. So, now, Jiyong is left with his grandmother. He’s focused on school, maybe cause one day he wants to leave this town too.” Suwon finished his story.  
I tried to say something, but couldn’t.  
I guess his life is not that perfect. But still…

*******************************  
I was stuck at school for detention. I would’ve run out if I had the chance but that damn discipline teacher is strict as hell, and kept waiting for me in the class.  
“Great, it’s raining!” I stood up in front of the building. I guess it’s the start of the rainy season. I hate rain so much, hindering my activities. I saw a yellow umbrella leaned against the corner. It’s late and I’m sure no one is here, might as well just borrow it for today.  
I opened the umbrella and run out into the rain.

*******************************  
The next day, I opened my locker to find a letter.

_Eun Jiwon, let’s settle things today at 11 am!_  
_Lee Jaijin_

Seriously? A challenge letter? This guy is weird. But the point is taken. I’ll fly during recess.

******************************  
I was going to take Suwon with me for backup, but he got a test today. That guy is still interested in studying though he hangs out with me.  
Never mind, I don’t really need his help, I can take on Jaijin anytime.  
I scanned around the environment to make sure no one is watching. As the coast is clear, I climbed up the pile of old chairs and tables stocked near the wall.  
“Yah Eun Jiwon! Stop!”  
That voice, argh damn it, how is he able to detect me every time?  
I turn around to see that lean and tall body. He looks a bit… pale.  
“Later bitch!” I hurriedly climb over the wall. He tried to grab my legs but his sneezing and coughing slow him down. I managed to make my way across and could not stop grinning.

*******************************  
Ugh, my body is aching all over. That damn guy brought his minion, Kim Jaeduck to ambush me. I was not prepared for that, had I known, I’ll drag Suwon’s ass over too. I’ll get you later Jaijin! And you too, you small fry Jaeduck!  
My lips are busted, and my left eye is bruised. I head back to the school to get my bag, and might see the nurse to patch me up a bit.  
Good, the sick bay is still opened.  
I stopped myself from opening the door when I noticed there’s someone else inside.  
It’s the frail-looking Science teacher. And, Jiyong is on the bed, with his eyes closed. He really looks pale, maybe he’s down with a fever or something.  
Strange thing is, why is his shirt unbuttoned all the way and opened like that?  
And that teacher is looking over him, with a weird look. He placed his hand on Jiyong exposed chest. And bend over to… sniff him? What the damn heck is going on??  
He kept on rubbing Jiyong’s chest, then moved down to his stomach and kept on leaning closer to his face. As his hand trailed further down, he’s about to close the gap between their faces, I pushed open the door and shout out loudly.  
“Nurse, I need some help!”  
The teacher immediately stood up, looking flustered.  
“You… why are you here? Ahem… Did you get in a fight??” He said to me.  
I shot a glare at him.  
He got shocked, then proceed to the door. “I need to prepare for my next class,” he mumbled as he made his exit.  
I turned to look at Jiyong, he’s still sleeping, not peacefully, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t aware of what just happened.

God damn it, what a creep, if I wasn’t here, I don’t know what would happen.  
You owe me big time, Jiyong!

*******************************  
I walked back home in the blasted rain again. But this time, I brought my raincoat.  
I was just leaving the school compound, walking across the park when I hear a small whimpering. Sounded like a puppy?  
I’m a dog-boy. But constantly moving made it impossible for us to have a pet in the household. But that doesn’t stop me from gushing out for dogs and cats every opportunity available.  
The sound seemed to come from the deep drain lining the park and the forest. I looked over to see a small puppy inside the drain.  
“Poor guy, you must have fell down, where’s your mommy?” I looked around but see no other dogs there.  
I wanted to climb down the drain, but it’s too deep and I’ll have a hard time to get out later. But that puppy, that smol, fragile puppy. Screw it, I’m going in.  
I climbed down the drain carefully, the land is pretty slippery due to the rain.  
“Here, don’t worry, I’ll get you out.” I tried to calm the puppy down as I scooped it up into my arms.  
I looked around me, trying to figure out a way to scale up the wall.  
Suddenly, a yellow umbrella towered over me. Under it, there’s that guy. Ko Jiyong.

“What are you doing?” He asked me.  
“What does it look like?” I snapped back at him, slightly opening my raincoat to show the puppy near my chest.  
His eyes warmed up a bit.  
“Hand that guy over to me.” He squatted down and extended his long arms.  
I passed him the little puppy. He took it and then vanished.

He had been gone for more than 5 minutes, I got worried. No way, he’s not really leaving me here, right?  
“Jiyong! Ko Jiyong!! You better don’t leave me here! Come back!” I screamed and shouted over the heavy rain.  
After several minutes of shouting and cursing, I heard him laughing.  
“Bwahahaha, the strong and bold Jiwon getting scared of being left in the ditch,” he’s in stitches, holding his stomach, looking over me in the drain.  
“It’s not funny! Now pull me out of this freaking drain!” I shouted at him.  
He stifled his laughter and put down his umbrella to pull me up.

When I got out, I asked him the whereabouts of the puppy. He told me that he placed it inside one of the hollow pipes in the playground.  
“His mom is not around, I guess he’s abandoned.” Jiyong said to me as I’m cuddling up the puppy.  
“It’s okay, I’ll take care of you, little guy,” I said to the puppy.  
I noticed the amused look on Jiyong’s face.  
“What??” I said to him, annoyed.  
“Never thought I’d see you like this, baby-talking to a dog,” he looked so damn irritating, smirking and trying to hold back his laughter.  
“And I never thought I’d see you laughing like this, since you always had that stiff face, like you got a stick up in you’re ass!” I quipped back.  
He stopped laughing.  
“I looked stiff?” He sounded like he was asking himself that instead of me. We waited for the rain to stop before leaving that small pup there.

******************************  
I’ve been checking up on Kyu over this past week. Yeah, I named the puppy. I couldn’t bring it home, the apartment doesn’t allow pet and my parents would have told me to bring it out anyway. So I made a small doghouse for it in the park, bringing some milk and food to feed it. I noticed sometimes, some other treats were left there. Maybe some kind patrons of the park saw the dog and provided those.

******************************  
A storm has been issued for the night. I got so worried about Kyu, and decided to sneak out of the house and bring it back home just for the night.  
I put on my hoodie and my raincoat and made my way through the night over to the park.  
As I was coming closer to the dog house, I noticed a yellow umbrella opened and placed on the ground.  
‘That looks like Jiyong’s’  
But it’s just a generic yellow umbrella, someone must have left it in the day.  
I heard Kyu’s barking like crazy. Poor guy, he must be anxious.  
I run up to him.  
“Hey there Kyu, no worries, you’re gonna stay with me tonight.”  
Then I noticed a flashlight laying around. The muddy, wet ground seemed odd, as if something had been dragged along.  
I felt a pang in my heart.  
“What happened?” I asked Kyu, didn’t know what I was expecting of him.  
Suddenly, Kyu bolted out into the forest. I have a really bad feeling.  
I ran after him, taking out my phone to call Suwon.  
“Suwon, I think something happened to Jiyong.”  
“What do you mean?” Suwon sounded half-asleep.  
“I’m at the park near the school right now…” I put down the phone as Kyu stopped in front of an isolated woodshed. He started scratching the door.  
I picked him up and told him to quiet down.  
I put my ears to the door, and heard some scuffling noise inside.

“Let me go, you psycho!” That’s Jiyong’s voice.  
Then, a laughter of a man is heard.  
“I thought I’ve lost my love all those years ago. Then, you come into my life. This is my second chance, we’ll make it all right.”  
I tried to peek through the gaps of the wooden wall.  
I see a man with his back to the door, kneeling in front of a tied up Jiyong, laid on a table. He caressed his face, as Jiyong kept on spouting curses and wiggling himself to loosen up the ropes.

“You look so much like her,” he mumbled as he continues to fondle Jiyong.  
Jiyong’s face changed.  
“What do you mean?” The man look a bit startled, as if he realized his slip up.  
“What do you mean I look like her??” Jiyong screamed at him.

The man stood up and walked towards a shelf. “Doesn’t matter anymore, we are destined to be together. And we will be together forever now.”  
“It was you, wasn’t it? You killed Jisoo!!” Jiyong seemed to be losing his mind.  
A glint of light caught my eyes. I realized what the man is holding. It’s a knife!  
He walked towards Jiyong and started to speak some more.  
I nervously searched around to find something to help me. There’s a wooden board. I took a deep breath and gathered all my courage.  
I kicked the door open and charged up to the man. Both Jiyong and the man were surprised, but he barely had a second to react to me as I knocked his head with the board. He immediately is knocked out.

My hand is trembling as I untied Jiyong. He looked shocked too and a bit dazed. We quietly and quickly tie the man up with the rope while he is still unconscious. Only the sounds of our breathing were heard in that shed, as the rain outside were trickling down.  
I saw that my phone was not disconnected and heard Suwon screaming at the other side, asking if I was okay. He told me he informed his father at the police station and asked me to share my location with him.

******************************  
As the moon came out and lighted up the sky, I noticed the face of the man that we tied up.  
“What the heck, it’s the Science teacher??”  
“Yes, he hit me from behind at that park, he must have followed me back from school.” Jiyong said.  
That was our first exchange of that night.  
“To be honest, it’s not that shocking,” I said as I sit and leaned against the wall.  
The moonlight that pierced through the roof bathed over Jiyong’s face as he looked at me puzzled.  
“I caught him one time, touching you when you were passed out in the sick bay,”  
The colour on Jiyong’s face went away as he heard that.  
“What did he do?” He asked, afraid to learn the answer.  
“He didn’t get to do anything, I caught him by surprise,” I assured him.  
He looked a bit relieved. Then, silence.  
“Who is Jisoo?” I blurted out.  
Jiyong turned his head to me with a sad look.  
“She’s my older sister. One day, she stayed back at school. But, she never came back. Now, I know, this bastard! He… he killed her!”  
Jiyong got riled up and I could see him eyeing over the knife that was on the floor.

“Don’t do it,” I stood up and hold him from the back, just as he grabbed the knife.  
“But, he… he killed her, he destroyed her life, our lives,” Jiyong said in an exasperated manner. Tears were rolling down his cheeks.  
“Let him face up to his crime, don’t give him the easy way out, and don’t let him win by throwing away your future,” I pulled him closer to me.  
I can feel his muscles tensed up, and relaxed a bit as I was saying those words.  
“We were never able to move on from that, my family broke down because of him, why can’t I end his life now?” Jiyong trying to reason with me.  
“Don’t you want to know what happened to Jisoo? I don’t know your sister, but I know for sure she wouldn’t want this for you. Her life got ended abruptly, so now, you have to live your life to the fullest, do it for her,” I said as I held his arm tightly. To be honest, I’m surprised at myself for being able to pep-talk like that, but the situation called for it.  
Jiyong was pondering silently for a long time, until he sighed and dropped the knife.  
He turned and hugged me tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.  
I let him be and we waited without speaking anything until the police came.

*******************************  
Mr. Park, the Science teacher admitted to his crimes.  
He was obsessed over Ko Jisoo, saying he fell in love madly with her when he heard her singing. He made several advances towards her, but got rejected and she warned him to stop harassing her or get reported. She joined a song competition thus stayed back at school several times over the week. As she walked back home, passing through the park, she got blitzed by him and taken over to the shed. He was determined to make her mine. In his mind, once he got her body, she’ll submit to him, and they’d be a real couple.  
But she fought and he accidentally knocked her head over the bench, instantly killing her. That’s where they found her body, buried in the ground at the back of the shed.  
He laid low for several years, regretting over losing his “love” and keeping his sin to himself.

THE END


	2. Epilogue - The Eye of the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the turntable~~

“I lost the will to live after losing Jisoo, until the day Ko Jiyong stepped into my class. He’s radiant and beautiful, a splitting image of Jisoo. That’s the day I made up my mind to make him mine. My chance of starting over.”  
I got shudder hearing that from Suwon. We were both sitting on the bench in the park, as Kyu was playing and running around.  
The case had been wrapped up, it’s been a month now. The park was abandoned for a while after the revelation, but Suwon and I decided to walk there in this beautiful day.  
All of a sudden, I heard Kyu’s barking affectionately.  
I turned and watch him wagging his tail and running towards a tall figure.  
Jiyong knelt down and hugged him as Kyu’s licking his face furiously.  
“I missed you, Ruff, you’ve grown up so much,” he said.  
He raised his head and we looked at each other in the eye.  
His face looks, softer now, much lighter. As if a burden has been lifted over.  
He walked over us, smiling.  
Suwon and I automatically stood up too.  
He extended his hand and we shook his hand. Then, he pulled me into a hug. I was surprised at that. “Thank you,” he said.

Jiyong updated us with the case. Informing us that the court gave them a date for the trial. Mr. Park is pleading insanity, but the case against him is pretty solid.  
His parents came back home to be with him for a while, not that he’s expecting him to get back together, but now, they all can have a closure and move on.

I got curious about a thing and asked, “What were you doing in the park that night?”  
“The storm was coming, so I got worried about Ruff, I planned to take him back to my place, but, you know what happened,” he said as he rubbed down Kyu.  
“Why?”  
“Why what? I love this guy, I’ve been checking up on him after we saved him from that drain,”  
The reality hit me.  
“So it was you? That left those treats?”  
He glanced back at me and smiled, then stood up to play with Kyu.

“It’s Kyu by the way, who names a dog, Ruff?” I scoffed then stood up and threw a frisbee for Kyu to catch.

 

THE END


	3. School Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jiwon is settling in the new school, getting involve in extra-curricular activity (tho dragged by Suwon).  
> But ominous things always happen around them!  
> Some gore and violence here =(

“The flaming fire runs in our veins! Gooooo Rooster Booster!” The football team huddled around and shouted their cheers, then proceed to slap one another on their backs. I looked at them lazily from behind the water drums. Why am I here? Eun Jiwon at the school football competition? This is all because of Suwon. Today, the school is having a match with another school, to qualify for the district competition. Jang Suwon begged me to join him, as he’s in the team for some extra-curricular points. “Jiwon, please help me zip this up,” I saw Suwon waddling over to me in a huge, cute and fluffy rooster costume. “Bwahahahahaha, I can’t believe this, you really are the mascot,” I burst out laughing with my hand over my mouth and another on my stomach. When he told me he was on the team, i expected him to be one of the player. He reluctantly told me this morning that he’s the mascot. “So, I guess I could say, you’re the school’s co...” “Aish, stop it! Just zip me up!” Suwon’s face turned beet-red as he’s turning his back to me. “Wow, never knew there are some hot girls in the area,” I said to Suwon as the cheerleaders for both team were performing for the opening. “You really should go out more, instead of hiding in your room playing games, or hanging out with me. I’m getting sick of only seeing your face,” Suwon said that with a matter of fact tone, muffled by the costume head. I was about to smack his head, but the coach was signalling for him to come up to the centre. He waddled there awkwardly and went for a handshake with the other team mascot, a crow. Both mascots then show off some moves, and Suwon tried his best to jump and break dance. I cringed and prayed that he won’t stumble and embarrass himself, but luckily, he managed to do it just fine. Then, the players for both teams enter the field, and somehow, a couple of them looks familiar. Holy, it’s Jaijin and Jaeduck! They’re the lineman and runningback of the team. It never occurred to me that all these times I’ve been brawling with football players. No wonder they were different than all other school hooligans I’ve been fighting before. I mean, no wonder I sometimes lose. Jaijin seemed to notice me and looked my way. I shifted uncomfortably to be facing him like this, as the water boy. He smirked and passed by me in such a snobbish way. This guy, I swear I’ll get him later! *************************************************************************************************

I’m not a football fan, but damn the match is intense. Suwon had the job of explaining the game to me, though with much disgruntled. “I gotta say, both Jaijin and Jaeduck are good, but our team seems to be better.” I commented. “Whoa, did you just say our team? The school spirit is rubbing onto you, hehe,” Suwon giggled as I got flustered. It’s the last play of the overtime and their team is on the offence. Jaijin was behind the right side of the quarterback, he’s the tight end i think? After the centre passed the ball, he quickly blocked the opponent from rushing their quarterback. The quarterback pretended to be throwing a long pass, but instead handed it over to Jaeduck. Jaeduck swiftly manoeuvre through our team defence, when suddenly he got blocked and knocked over by the defensive right at their end zone. Apparently, their team left guard failed to open the pathway for him. The whistle was blown and the game ended with 16-18, with our team’s win. Jaijin ran up to Jaeduck and looked furious. Jaeduck’s nose was bleeding and he kept on holding his head, then got carried away by the medics. Jaijin was kicking the grass and muttering words, i imagined him cursing. *******************************************************************************************************

The next morning, I walked into the school with Suwon, with sort of a beaming pride. I’m sure the whole school would be that way too, but something seemed odd. A crowd of students were running towards the back compound, where a small garden and some animals are located. Being the curious cat he is, Suwon dragged me there. The students were gathering around the chicken coop (we have that cos the mascot of the school is a rooster), with some teachers and prefects at the centre. I noticed Jiyong was there too and our eyes met. He looked grim and shook his head. I pushed my way closer and saw the horrific scene. The chickens were dead. Slaughtered and carved up. Blood, feathers and chicken poops were everywhere, and some students looked like they were about to vomit. *******************************************************************************************************

Jiyong walked towards us with a heavy sigh during recess time. After the area was cordoned off, he was in a meeting with the teachers and prefects. “What happened?” I asked him as I passed him a banana milk. “A mess. Damn. The teachers are going to lodge a police report. They think it happened yesterday, when people were busy with the football match.” He said and then sucked on the milk. “Ah, yeah, I didn’t see you yesterday, where were you?” Suwon asked. He chuckled a little and said “I had the Math Olympiad, the less popular event. Hence I couldn’t see your debut as the school’s co..” “STOP! Darn it, both Jiwon and you are the same!” Suwon pouted, then proceed to ask, “So, did you guys win?” “Look at who’s the team leader, of course we won~” Jiyong said with a smirk. Jiyong’s face turned serious again, “It’s hard to detect the perpetrator as students of the other school were here too yesterday. More pool of suspects.” I glanced at Jiyong cos he sounded like a detective or something. “Well, let’s leave it to the police then to do their jobs.” I quipped. As we’re returning to our class, the atmosphere of the school seemed different. “What is this aura?” I said looking over to both Jiyong and Suwon on my side. “Well, the chickens are like our school symbol, now everyone is riled up with the school spirit, especially after the game yesterday. I have a bad feeling about this,” Suwon shivered. “I hope no one is going to do anything rash, the teachers will make an announcement later about this.” Jiyong said. *****************************************************************************************************

The final bell rung and I started to pack my things. Two male students suddenly approached me. I looked up to their faces. “Hi Jiwon, ermm... you know about the chicken incident, right?” The guy with the spiky hair asked me. I think his name is Woohyun? “Of course, I did go to the assembly just now, you know?” “We wanna ask you, to join us.” The other guy, Sehyung spoke. “Join you for what?” I raised an eyebrow. “We’re going to Crow’s Highschool, to take revenge!” “What? Revenge?” “Yeah, it’s pretty much confirmed they’re the culprit! They got pissed over losing the match and took it out on the chickens!” Woohyun said with such a burning spirit. “Hey, hold on guys, they’re still investigating the case,” I tried to calm them down. “The police just think of this as petty crime amongst kids. They won’t do anything. We have to take justice by our own hand!” Woohyun insisted. “Just chill first, let’s not complicate things.” “Okay, so maybe you don’t feel the same pride as us about this school, but I know you love fighting. Or, did you do it??” He accused me, even when the other guy kept on telling him to stop. I glared at him and stood up. “I don’t take orders from anyone. And if you continue to bug me, maybe you’ll bear witness to how much I love fights.” He looked a bit scared, then backed down. The other guy pulled him away to another crowd of 3 to 4 guys. *********************************************************************************************************

“There have been scuffles between the students of our school and Crows. Things are intense right now.” Jiyong informed us. “Yeah, and some students even accused me too, since I won’t go and fight with them,” I told him. “This is getting out of hand, and the police is not working fast enough. Sorry, Suwon.” “Not taken. But my father told me, that there were several cases of missing pets too before this. I don’t know if those are related, but that’s one angle they’re looking at.” Suwon said. “I think, I’ll go to the Crows today, I wanna check out some things. Maybe they have some information.” Jiyong suddenly said. “Huh, why would you do that?” I’m truly baffled. “It’s my duty as the prefect to bring balance and peace back to the school.” Jiyong stated. Suwon and me looked at him in disbelief with our jaws dropped. “We’ll come with you then,” Suwon confirmed without asking me first. *****************************************************************************************************

“Hi, Jaewan!” Jiyong waved at a student wearing glasses at the gate of Crows High School. “Hi Jiyong, what are you doing here? I don’t think it’s wise for you and your...” he looked at me and Suwon with a judging look, “schoolmates to be here now. With the case, you know.” “Yeah, about that, I’m here to gather any information. I want to solve the case quickly and end this tension.” Jiyong said. “Hey, maybe we should talk some place else,” I told them, as I’m getting uncomfortable at the dirty looks shot towards us from the other students passing by. *****************************************************************************************************

Jaewan and Jiyong knew each other through the olympiads and stuffs, you know, those nerds thingy. “They think it’s Lee Jaijin. It wouldn’t shock me if it’s the truth based on his history.” Jaewan said as he fiddled with his cuff. “What history? I mean, I know he got into fights and such, but....” Jiyong turned to me and back quickly, “I don’t think those will be evidence for animal cruelty.” “Well, there were rumours of him abusing dogs before, that he taped his dog to the wall for being noisy,” he said. I felt my blood is boiling hearing that. “Where is he now?” I asked. Jaewan got startled hearing me talked for the first time. He cleared his throat and continued, “That’s what make him even more suspicious, he has been absent after the incident, something a guilty person would do.” ***************************************************************************************************

After Jaewan left, we walked back to another direction. As we were about to turn a corner, we heard a girl’s voice. “Please, let me pass through, I’ve got nothing to do with that case!” “Nah, you’re responsible for it too, it’s a school pride thing, anything done by your schoolmate must be paid by you too!”A male voice answered her. “No, let me go!” Her voice strained even more. We hurried over to see the commotion. There, we saw the girl being grabbed by a guy, with another five guys present. I know those guys. “Oh, you guys are here?” Woohyun turned around to face us, still holding the girl’s arm. “What the hell are you guys doing? Let her go!” Jiyong angrily shouted at them. “We’re just standing up for our school, I’m sure you’d feel the same, Jiyong,” Woohyun said with a sleazy face. “What bulls**t are you talking about? You’re just using the school as an excuse to act like a d***head,” I growled at them. “Pft, whatever, I’m giving you guys a chance to walk away now, for the sake of the school spirit,” Woohyun warned us. I looked over to Jiyong, then to Suwon, and nodded.

*****************************************************************************************************

After the good beating, the guys scrambled about, and then, the girl who was standing at the side thanked us furiously. “Thank you guys, I don’t know what would happen if you guys weren’t here,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears. “No problem, I’m sorry that the guys from my school acted that way, I’ll be sure to report them to the school,” Jiyong assured her. Then, I thought of asking her about the case. She looked a bit panicked hearing my question. “I...really don’t know about the case, But.....” she paused. “But what?” The three of us asked in synchronise. “Couple of months back, there was a case in our school too, one of the rabbit was found dead, with it’s head missing and then mangled.” Her face looked horrified as she recalled. “We thought it was killed by wild dogs, since after we enforced the fence, no more such incident happens.” We mulled over her story for a while. “Do you know about Lee Jaijin?” Suwon asked. “Hurm, yeah, I know that his parents passed away in a double suicide-murder. They said his father owed a lot of money to the loan shark, then decided to kill his family and then commit suicide. But, Jaijin was the only one that survived.” She explained. I was shocked to know that. Jiyong and Suwon seemed surprised too. “He’s a scary person for me. I’ve heard him bullying and getting into fights. But, I never really paid any attention to him, since he’s not directly involved with me.” “Okay, thanks for your info, if anything else pops up, you can contact us.” Suwon’s handed her a piece of paper with his number. This smooth bastard! How could he think of flirting at this moment? We bid goodbye to Suji (Suwon asked her name) then continued back to the school. “I think, I need to ask Jaeduck about this, he’s Jaijin’s best friend after all,” I was resolute to do so.

*****************************************************************************************************

Jaeduck was admitted to the hospital after the injury he sustained in the game. He got a concussion for that and needed to stay for observation. Suwon and I went to the hospital while Jiyong returned back home as he got another appointment. Jaeduck looked surprise when he saw us coming. “I didn’t know that we’re friends?” He chuckled. That smol guy looked weaker than his usual energetic self. “We want to ask you about Jaijin.” I said. His face turned sour. “He didn’t do it!” He stated firmly. “How did you know what I’m about to ask?” “The police came. They asked me about him too, as the suspect for the chickens killings.” He said. “What? How did the police become suspicious of him?” Suwon asked. “They said they got a picture of him at the scene, and there’s a witness.” Jaeduck told us. “But I know it’s not him! He’s being framed. I mean, I know Jaijin’s not a model student, and he does get involved in troubles, but he would not hurt animals. The guy loves animals, he even feed them when he himself got nothing to eat.” I looked Jaeduck straight in the eyes. “I know he’s your best friend, and you wanna protect him, but if he’s innocent, why is he missing now?” Jaeduck sighed then said, “He’s like that. He’s the type that would run away from problems involving others instead of confronting them. Let him clear his mind, I’m sure he’ll come back after a few days to exonerate himself. I just hope, it’s not too late, and people will believe him. But he has been let down by this town so many times before,” he trailed off. I want to ask him what he meant by that, but the nurse came to examine him. We then left the hospital and head back home. *****************************************************************************************************

Jiyong called us to his home in the early morning saying he found something. Suwon came to my house first then we went together to Jiyong’s house. This is the first time I’ve been here. I greeted his old grandmother, who was about to go to the temple. She’s a friendly and loving person, telling us to eat anything she had in the house. She asked us to come again. “This is the first time Jiyong got some friends over in a while. I’m sorry I have to leave now. Do come again another time, I’ll cook you guys something special.” Jiyong kept nagging at her to just leave and don’t worry. It’s funny seeing Jiyong so casual and with his hair down, instead of the usual gelled hair. “Come here,” he led us to a long table in the open balcony. ”So, Suwon, you told us before about the missing pets right?” Jiyong asked Suwon. Suwon nodded. “I’ve looked up the missing pets notices posted up in our district’s Facebook page, then I found something odd about the dates.” Jiyong said as he rubbed his temple. “As I was jotting them down, I felt eerily familiar.” “What do you mean?” “Here’s the dates of when the animals gone missing,” he laid a piece of paper on the table, a calendar marked with Xs. “And here are the dates for the Math and Science Olympiads, tests and exams for this year.” He placed another piece of calendar with markings. “They both, overlapped,” Suwon looked up to Jiyong. “Yeah, thing is, I was involved in most of these. As a disclaimer, I’m freeing myself of any charges here. The only other guy I’m sure without a doubt that joined all this is.... Jaewan.” He said with a serious look. “So what, he killed those animals as a sacrifice or something?” I asked sceptically. “I.. I don’t know what this means, but these cannot be a coincidence. We should look into this.” Jiyong said. We then decided to each pursue different routes. I’ll be checking Jaijin’s house, Jiyong will be going to Jaewan’s house whereas Suwon will look around the school. “If there’s anything, inform each other. Let’s not act alone.” I reminded him. ******************************************************************************************************

I arrived at Jaijin’s house, well, room. I was about to knock when I realized the door is unlocked. After calling for him several times without answers, I entered the room slowly. The room is quite neat with minimal furnitures. There’s a single bed, a small stove and a table. A picture of an older man and woman sit on the table, I guess that were his parents. There’s also a safety helmet, in line with what Jaeduck told us, that he sometimes part time worked in construction site when the money from his football’s scholarship was insufficient, which was often. Interestingly, there’s an easel there, with several canvasses leaned on the wall. ‘He’s a painter? Never would’ve thought that’ I looked through some of his paintings when my phone rings. I picked up the phone and it’s Jiyong on the other side. He’s video-calling both me and Suwon simultaneously. “Guys, I’m in Jaewan’s room now. Him and his parents are not in, but the maid let me in as I’ve been here several times. Check out what I found.” Jiyong panned his camera to a diary and flipped it open. Inside, there are writings and some pictures. Pictures of the missing pets. 28/2 The Math Olympiad sucks. I’m letting my stress flow as the blood flowing out of this sacrifice. I went to sleep soundly as the whimpers of the mutt rings in my head like a lullaby. 4/3 Mom and dad got mad at me for coming up 2nd place in the Science Fair, curse you Ko Jiyong. I’ll imagine this cat as you as I’m slicing it open. 15/4 Damn you Roosters!! How the heck did I lose to those mere mortals? Mom and Dad will be furious. But I’ve taken revenge, slaughtered up their symbol. HahAÆjahdfdggthn And there’s a picture of those chickens before their demise. “I also found some videos, that sick motherf***** recorded himself doing the deed. I bet he relived the experiences by watching them over and over again.” Jiyong spoke with such disgust. “Jiyong, you need to go to the police with those. I’m worried for Jaijin now, as Jaewan was the one who pointed us to him.” I said as I noticed a canvass that fell face-down away from the other canvasses. I flipped the canvas up and my face turned pale, It’s a painting of Kyu, in the park. But there’s cuts on it, like someone had sliced the painting with a knife. “Guys, I think I know where Jaijin and Jaewan are right now.” I showed them the painting. “I’m the closest, I’ll check the park out!” Suwon said. Before we could stop him, he hung up. “Jiyong, I’ll go to the park too, meet us there with the police,” I ordered Jiyong. He nodded and hung up. *******************************************************************************************************

I reached Kyu’s doghouse, but there’s no one in sight. The doghouse is a mess, as if someone grabbed Kyu’s by force but he’s resisting. My text notification lit up. It’s from Suwon! The shed ASAP, Jaewan, Jaijin and Kyu! I ran to the woodshed with a knot in my stomach. I haven’t been to this place after the incident with Jiyong the last time, as I’m getting closer, I felt goosebumps forming. Like a deja vu, I peeked through the gaps. There’s Jaijin and Suwon standing next to each other. And there’s Jaewan, holding a knife to Kyu in his arms. I made my way quietly to the window behind Jaewan, going over scenarios in my head on how to stop all of this without any casualties. “No, don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you want!” Jaijin raised his arms over his head to show that he won’t attack him. “There’s a paper there, sign it,” Jaehwan pointed to a piece of paper on the table, with a pen and a pocket-knife on it. Jaijin read it “I confess that I’m the one who killed those animals, and to amend for my sins, I’ll take my own life...” He looked up to Jaehwan’s smiling face. “I want you to kill yourself after signing that.” “What? That’s ridiculous! Jaijin, no!” “But...if I don’t then, Xavier..” “Noooo!!” Suwon screamed. “Do it Jaijin, it’s not like there is anyone that would be sad for you, well, maybe this mutt will be thankful to you,” Jaewan goaded him. Jaijin seemed to be seriously contemplating that. He then hold up the knife and closed his eyes. I know I have to do something fast. I climbed up the blocks and boards near the window so I’m crouching on the window sill. At that moment, Suwon and me locked eyes, and I quickly jump through the window to Jaewan’s back. I snapped his wrist so the knife falls and grabbed his other arm that Kyu’s able to break free. Simultaneously, Jaijin was swinging the blade to stab himself but Suwon placed his hand between the knife and Jaijin’s stomach, stopping the momentum. Suwon fell down to his knees, holding his arm. Jaijin took off his shirt and tie it over Suwon’s palm to stop the bleeding. Later on, Jiyong arrived with the police. Suwon was taken to the hospital, and Jiyong, Jaijin and me were taken to the police station along with Jaewan. Although at first Jaewan’s parents insisted on the innocence of their child, after being shown the videos, they conformed to the charges.


	4. Epilogue - School Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life goes on, but it is not fair to everyone

Suwon, Jiyong and me were sitting on the bench in the park, as Kyu was playing and running around. We were talking about the case, how the school is getting new chickens to raise, and how things will get back to normal eventually. All of a sudden, I heard Kyu’s barking affectionately. Jaijin is walking towards us, with Kyu following him.

“You’re okay?” I asked him as he just stood silent in front of us. “Yeah, I’m fine, how about you?” He asked, with his sight focused on Suwon’s bandaged palm. “It’s healed now, just a scratch.” Suwon smiled.

Jaijin explained the reason for his disappearance, after the game, he was so pissed off that he went to the garden to calm down by looking at the animals. But when he was there, the chickens were already dead. He was confused and about to go report it to someone when Jaewan appeared, accusing him of the killings. Jaewan took pictures of him at the crime scene, screaming that he’ll tell others. He panicked and ran to hide here and there, finally secluding himself in the woodshed. He assumed people won’t go there after the murder case.

“I was resigned in hiding, but it was okay since I had Xavier here.” He said as he fondly pet Kyu. “First of all, it’s Kyu. What’s with you guys naming the dog with ridiculous names,” I side-eyed Jiyong and continued, “You could’ve just explained yourself by coming forward,” I said to him.

He weakly smiled. “You’re new here, you don’t know how the people here have always been prejudiced of me, so I know that they won’t believe me, along with those pictures too.”

I was taken aback by those words. After a short awkward silence, Suwon told us how Jaewan is to be admitted into the hospital for help. His parents felt guilty over pushing him for excellence, that he resorted to relieve pressure through killing small animals. “Maybe it’s the pressure, or maybe it’s in his nature, let’s leave it to the doctors to determine.” Jiyong said. “Yeah, the point is, your name is clear now.” I told him, and in respond, Jaijin gave me a deep look, that I’m not sure of what that means.

“Bye, Xavier,” Jaijin gave a peck to Kyu’s head. He walked away but suddenly halted. Jaijin turned around. “Guys, thanks. Especially you, the school’s cock.” Suwon didn’t manage to stop him this time.

THE END


End file.
